Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy

Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy

Facilitate healing of chronically injured tissues with super-concentrated platelet solutions from your own blood.

What you can expect:

  • Minimally invasive treatment
  • Personalized care
  • Stimulate the body’s healing process
  • A safe, effective mode of therapy to enhance tissue regeneration
Offered by

Many musculoskeletal conditions and injuries—such as osteoarthritis, tendinitis, and nerve damage—have been historically difficult to treat due to the nature of connective tissue’s low potential to heal (i.e. bone, ligaments, tendons, and cartilage). Thanks to decades of research and the creation of innovative technology, however, breakthroughs in regenerative medicine have been made.

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy is one regenerative service we offer at Pacific Coast Sports Medicine.

PRP has been used to treat the following conditions…

  • Osteoarthritis
  • Nerve Injury
  • Tendinitis (e.g. Achilles tendinitis, patellar tendinitis, Tennis Elbow, etc.) (1, 8)
  • Cartilage Repair (2, 4)
  • Post-Surgery Healing
  • Bone Repair and Regeneration (6)

orthopedic

What is PRP Therapy?

PRP is a minimally invasive therapy approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that is used to enhance healing and tissue regeneration. A sample of blood is drawn from the patient and centrifuged in order to separate platelets from other blood cells. The concentrated collection of platelets is then combined with the patient’s plasma—that is, blood serum—and injected at the site of injury. PRP increases the amount of platelets in the blood between five- and ten-fold (7). Platelets are blood cells whose main function is to stop bleeding by adhering together to form a blood clot. However, it is not the function of coagulation that enables PRP to be an effective method of treatment, but rather the presence and abundance of small proteins within the platelets called growth factors.

ROCK_CLIMBERThe exact mechanism of PRP has yet to be understood completely. Currently, the research literature suggests that the injection of platelet-rich plasma into the area in need of healing enables more growth factors to stimulate stem cell recruitment, collagen production, as well as increase local vascularization (8). In other words, by providing the body with a higher concentration of natural platelets, a patient can enhance tissue regeneration due to increased presence of growth factors.

PRP has been demonstrated to be an especially effective form of treatment for those with lateral elbow epicondylitis (Tennis Elbow), knee osteoarthritis, and patellar tendinopathy.

What does the current research literature say about PRP Therapy?

Lateral Elbow Epicondylitis:

  • After 6 weeks, patients who underwent PRP reported a 61.5% reduction in pain, whereas those who underwent autologous whole blood treatment (with normal platelet concentrations) reported a 41.6% decrease in pain (9).
  • After 8 weeks of treatment, PRP patients continued significant improvements in function and pain, while autologous whole blood treatment patients did not (8).
  • When compared to the effects of corticosteroid injections, PRP patients demonstrated significant increased function and greater pain relief after a two-year follow-up (3).

Knee Osteoarthritis:

  • One study demonstrated that a single dose of PRP at a concentration of 10x normal platelet amount effectively alleviated pain and resulted in overall satisfaction in those with early knee osteoarthritis (5).
  • PRP injections in young, active patients sustained the effects of decreased pain and recovered articular function, with a low amount of cartilage degeneration (4)

Patellar Tendinitis:

  • MRI assessment showed enhanced integrity of the patellar tendon of PRP patients at 3 months.
  • At the 2-year follow-up, PRP patients’ clinical evaluation scores for pain, patellar assessment, and before/after surgery return-to-play scores significantly improved (1).

[one_half]

Rodeo

[/one_half]

[one_half_last]

slide home

[/one_half_last]

PRP is a safe, effective mode of therapy to enhance tissue regeneration in many patients.

We encourage you to consult one of Pacific Coast Sports Medicine’s clinically specialized staff to see if PRP can alleviate your musculoskeletal pain and stimulate your body’s healing processes.

References:

  1. Charousset C, Zaoui A, Bellaiche L, Bouyer B. Are multiple platelet-rich plasma injections useful for treatment of chronic patellar tendinopathy in athletes? a prospective study. Am J Sports Med. 2014;42(4):906-11.
  2. Filardo et al. Platelet-rich plasma intra-articular knee injections for the treatment of degenerative cartilage lesions and osteoarthritis. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrose. 2011;19:528-535.
  3. Gosens T, Peerbooms JC, Van Laar W, Den Oudsten BL. Ongoing positive effects of platelet-rich plasma versus corticosteroid injection in lateral epicondylitis: a double-blind randomized controlled trial with 2-year follow-up. Am J Sports Med. 2011;39(6):1200-1208.
  4. Kon et al. Platelet-rich plasma intra-articular injections versus hyaluronic acid viscosupplementation as treatments for cartilage pathology: from early degeneration to osteoarthritis. Arthroscopy. 2011;27(11):1490-1501.
  5. Patel S, Dhillon MS, Aggarwal S, Marwaha N, Jain A. Treatment with platelet-rich plasma is more effective than placebo for knee osteoarthritis. Am J Sports Med. 2013;41(2):356-364.
  6. Platelet-Rich Plasma. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platelet-rich_plasma. Accessed January 16, 2015. Modified January 3, 2015.
  7. Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP). OrthoInfo Web site. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00648. Accessed January 16, 2015. Reviewed September 2011.
  8. Raeissadat et al. Effect of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) versus autologous whole blood on pain and function improvement in tennis elbow: a randomized clinical trial. Pain Res Treat. 2014;2014:191525.
  9. Thanasas C, Papadimitriou G, Charalambidis C, Paraskevopoulos I, Papanikolaou A. Platelet-rich plasma versus autologous whole blood for the treatment of chronic lateral elbow epicondylitis: a randomized controlled clinical trial. Am J Sports Med. 2011;39(10):2130-4.

CLICK HERE for more information about PRP

Scroll to Top